However, Sorenson's trusted chief tech Beorn Karlborgen was actually a sleeper agent who had been activated to kill the Coordinator. Karlborgen had planted several bombs aboard the Startreader and committed suicide by means of a poison pill during approach to the planet. At the time, the Startreader was locked in autopilot on a course that would crash it into the military starport's command center, with communications replaced by faked regular messages and bombs set to detonate ten meters above the runway to maximize damage. When the ship's situation was discovered on 22 September 3019, Sorenson took Takashi Kurita into his GrasshopperBattleMech in the 'Mech bay, used its missiles to destroy the unresponsive bay doors, and jumped away from the stricken vessel just in time to facilitate a rough crash landing cushioned by the Grasshopper's jump jets.[3] Though the DropShip and the 'Mech were destroyed, Sorenson and Kurita survived.[4] Sorenson was subsequently promoted to Warlord of the Rasalhague Military District.